OBS Chapter 131 Changes in the Village
Chapter 131 Changes in the Village
The others stopped talking and just watched the aunt and niece with smiles on their faces.
"Let's go inside." Xiao Siyue stood up and pulled Xiao Yichen into the house.
Little Xiao Yichen didn't refuse at all. He happily held Xiao Siyue's hand and followed her clumsily. He really liked this aunt.
The eldest aunt, Zhao Yindi, smiled and said to her two sisters-in-law, "Look at this little guy. Now that he has his aunt, he doesn't want us anymore. Look how happy he is."
"Haha, yes!" Everyone laughed.
After entering the house, Xiao Siyue greeted the elders in the family, but did not see her uncle, Xiao Qiren.
"Why isn't Uncle here?" Xiao Siyue asked, puzzled.
"Your uncle is very busy these days. He went to the prefectural city to check on the shops a couple of days ago," Auntie said with a smile.
"Is that so? Does Uncle keep running around to different shops like this?" Now that he has opened more shops, it must be too tiring to keep running around like this.
"No, not really, but I'll go every two or three months." Even so, it would take more than a month to check every shop.
"Where's my eldest brother? Did he go too?" Xiao Siyue looked around, but none of her brothers were there. Her other brothers must have gone to study; in the past two years, they had all transferred to the county academy and usually came back once every two weeks.
"Yes, your older brother went along too, as did Zhou Ming." Zhou Ming was brought along mainly for safety reasons, as he is quite skilled.
Xiao Siyue listened and didn't ask any more questions. She thought that when her uncle came back, she would talk to him and ask him to train a few people as soon as possible. She couldn't always do everything herself. She could still manage now, but if she opened more shops in the future, she would be exhausted.
Afterwards, everyone chatted about what had happened that year. When Grandpa Xiao learned that a cement workshop had been built in Qianyuan County and the roads were now paved with cement, he became very curious.
"Yue'er, what is cement? Why do we use cement to pave roads?"
"Grandpa, this cement is made from several kinds of minerals. The road paved with cement is smooth and flat, and the carriage won't bump at all when it rides on it. It's also clean, and you won't get splashed with mud when it rains," Xiao Siyue explained.
"That's wonderful!" Old Master Xiao was very curious. Last time he went to Qianyuan County, he was exhausted. The bumpy ride in the carriage made his back ache for several days.
“Grandpa, if you want to see it, you can come with us this time,” Xiao Siyue said.
Grandpa Xiao was somewhat tempted, but he still declined. The main reason he went last time was to take Xiao Siyue with him, but he was getting old and couldn't handle such a long journey.
After chatting and laughing for a while, the maids brought out the food. Their family now had a three-courtyard house in the village, just like the landlord's family, and of course, maids and servants were indispensable.
Grandpa and Grandma Xiao lived a very leisurely life. Grandma Xiao had handed over all the management of the household to her eldest aunt, and spent her days playing with her great-grandson and chatting with the old women in the village, living a very carefree life.
After dinner, Lin Qin went to rest. Xiao Siyue felt not too sleepy, so she took Grandpa Xiao for a walk in the village to digest her food. However, little Xiao Yichen insisted on going too, so in the end, the three of them went together.
Looking at the newly renovated village, with its rows of well-arranged brick and tile houses, the lush green fields in the distance, and the lively conversations of the villagers, one can't help but feel a sense of joy.
"Grandpa, the villagers were so welcoming when we came back today, and they looked much better too," Xiao Siyue said as they walked.
"Yes, in the past two years, the villagers have been living better lives. Look, our village is now full of brick and tile houses, and no one has to go hungry anymore."
“Everyone in the village has a job now and is no longer short of money, so they no longer have to suffer,” Grandpa Xiao said with a smile.
"That's wonderful!" Xiao Siyue exclaimed.
"Yes!" Old Master Xiao was equally pleased. Who would have thought that in just a few years, their Xiao Family Village would become so prosperous?
"Come on, Grandpa will take you to see the soy sauce workshop," Grandpa Xiao suddenly thought.
As Xiao Siyue walked to the west end of the village, she saw a workshop that covered a large area. This was the land where the disaster victims had been resettled. Because the land was large, the Sheng family bought a piece of land here and built the workshop.
"Grandpa, this workshop is quite well built, it looks pretty big," Xiao Siyue exclaimed.
"Yes, when it was being built, the Sheng family hired people from our village and paid them a lot of money. They said they were determined to build it well, and everyone in our village worked very hard," said Grandpa Xiao. With such high wages, how could they not do their job well?
"Can we go in and take a look?" Xiao Siyue asked.
"Of course, let's go in." Grandpa Xiao led Xiao Siyue and Xiao Yichen inside.
As soon as he entered, someone greeted Grandpa Xiao.
"What brings you here today, Mr. Xiao?" the man greeted him warmly.
"Haha, I brought my granddaughter here today to see you all. You're busy," Grandpa Xiao said with a smile.
"Well, take your time looking around, old man." After glancing at Xiao Siyue, the man said this to Xiao's father and left.
"Grandpa, who is this?" Xiao Siyue looked at the person and saw that he seemed very familiar with Grandpa Xiao.
"This is the person in charge of the soy sauce workshop, left behind by the Sheng family."
It turned out to be the case.
Xiao Siyue followed Grandpa Xiao inside.
The first thing that catches the eye is an extremely spacious drying area, filled with large vats.
"Is this all you've done in this period of time?" That's pretty fast; you've done so much in just a few months.
"Yes, the workshop has hired a lot of people, so it can produce quickly," said Grandpa Xiao.
Next to the drying ground were rows of houses, which were probably where soy sauce was usually made.
As Xiao Siyue entered, she saw many familiar faces, all of whom were villagers from Xiaojia Village.
Everyone greeted Grandpa Xiao warmly.
"When did Siyue come back?" a middle-aged man asked.
"Hello, Uncle Chengcai, I just got back today." Xiao Siyue replied with a smile. This person was a member of their Xiao family, named Xiao Chengcai.
"It's been so long since I've seen you, little girl. You've grown up quite a bit, and you're even more beautiful now," Xiao Cheng said with a smile.
"Thank you, Uncle Cheng. You look much younger now," Xiao Siyue accepted the compliment without the slightest embarrassment.
"Haha, you little rascal, you really know how to talk." Xiao Chengcai was amused by Xiao Siyue's words and burst into laughter, and the others also laughed heartily.
"Auntie, this soy sauce is so good for cooking meat." Xiao Yichen tugged at Xiao Siyue and whispered.
"Our little Chenchen knows about soy sauce?" Xiao Siyue asked in surprise. How could such a young child know that it was used to make soy sauce?
"Mmm, Grandma used this to make meat for Chenchen, and Chenchen loves it." The little guy said in his childish voice, and Xiao Siyue seemed to hear a slurping sound.
I didn't realize this guy was such a glutton.
"Then let's make some delicious meat for Chenchen tomorrow, okay?" Xiao Siyue patted the little guy's head.
"Yay! Yay!" The little guy clapped his hands happily.